Electrical Potential Investigation of Reversible Metastability and Irreversible Degradation of CdTe Solar Cells

Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Albin, David; Nardone, Marco; Howard, K. J.; Danielson, A.; Munshi, A.; Shimpi, T.; Xiao, Chuanxiao; Moutinho, Helio R.; Al-Jassim, Mowafak M.; Teeter, Glenn; Sampath, W.

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2022.111610

Electrical Potential Investigation of Reversible Metastability and Irreversible Degradation of CdTe Solar Cells

Journal Article · 01 February 2022 · Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2022.111610· OSTI ID:1845682

Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Albin, David; Nardone, Marco; Howard, K. J.; Danielson, A.; Munshi, A.; Shimpi, T.; Xiao, Chuanxiao; Moutinho, Helio R.; Al-Jassim, Mowafak M.; Teeter, Glenn; Sampath, W.

In this paper, we report on the stability of CdTe devices with a structure of TCO/MZO/CdSeTe/CdTe/back-contact. The device showed reversible transitions between the light-soak state (LSS) with the best device efficiency and the dark-soak state (DSS) with an inferior efficiency. However, it showed an irreversible degradation state (DgS) driven by long-hour light soaking at an elevated temperature. We have investigated transitions between these three states from the perspective of the electric field by nm-resolution potential imaging across the devices using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). The results exhibit different anomalous electric field profiles. At the LSS, the electric field exhibits a main peak inside the CdSeTe layer instead of the MZO/CdSeTe heterointerface, illustrating a buried homojunction (BHJ) of the device. At the DSS, a large electric field peak at the MZO/CdSeTe interface was measured, which probably resulted in the inferior fill factor at the DSS. At the DgS, the electric field peak at the MZO/CdSeTe interface increased further and a third electric field was measured at the back contact of the device. Device modeling using COMSOL software, in alignment with both the electric field and device current-voltage curves, elucidates that a low n-doped CdSeTe in the region near the MZO/CdSeTe interface caused the BHJ in the LSS and a loss of MZO doping and/or increase of the conduction band offset spike due to long-term stress caused the increased electric field near the MZO/CdSeTe interface at the DgS.

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

DOE Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1845682

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-80794; MainId:78572; UUID:ecd01ac4-5aa2-4e7e-9a72-472af5b3bdf5; MainAdminID:63849

Journal Information:: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 238

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (32)

Solar cell efficiency tables (Version 58) Green, Martin A.; Dunlop, Ewan D.; Hohl‐Ebinger, Jochen Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 29, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3444	journal	June 2021
Exceeding 20% efficiency with in situ group V doping in polycrystalline CdTe solar cells Metzger, W. K.; Grover, S.; Lu, D. Nature Energy, Vol. 4, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0446-7	journal	August 2019
Enhancing the photo-currents of CdTe thin-film solar cells in both short and long wavelength regions Paudel, Naba R.; Yan, Yanfa Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4901532	journal	November 2014
Co-sublimation of CdSexTe1−x layers for CdTe solar cells Swanson, Drew E.; Sites, James R.; Sampath, Walajabad S. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 159 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.09.025	journal	January 2017
Polycrystalline CdSeTe/CdTe Absorber Cells With 28 mA/cm ² Short-Circuit Current Munshi, Amit H.; Kephart, Jason; Abbas, Ali IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2775139	journal	January 2018
Long-term transient and metastable effects in cadmium telluride photovoltaic modules Cueto, J. A. del; von Roedern, B. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 14, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.687	journal	January 2006
Film thickness and chemical processing effects on the stability of cadmium telluride solar cells Albin, D. S.; Demtsu, S. H.; McMahon, T. J. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 515, Issue 4, p. 2659-2668 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2006.05.042	journal	December 2006
Influence of CdTe solar cell properties on stability at high temperatures Bertoncello, Matteo; Casulli, Fabio; Barbato, Marco Microelectronics Reliability, Vol. 114 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2020.113847	journal	November 2020
High-efficiency polycrystalline CdTe thin-film solar cells Wu, Xuanzhi Solar Energy, Vol. 77, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2004.06.006	journal	December 2004
The formation of different phases of CuxTe and their effects on CdTe/CdS solar cells Zhou, J.; Wu, X.; Duda, A. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 515, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2007.03.032	journal	June 2007
Development of Cu‐doped ZnTe as a back‐contact interface layer for thin‐film CdS/CdTe solar cells Gessert, T. A.; Mason, A. R.; Sheldon, P. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 14, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1116/1.580394	journal	May 1996
Electrical metastabilities in chalcogenide photovoltaic devices Novalin, Sabrina; Rennhofer, Marcus; Summhammer, Johann Thin Solid Films, Vol. 535 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2012.10.041	journal	May 2013
Stability of CdTe solar cells at elevated temperatures: Bias, temperature, and Cu dependence Hiltner, Jason F.; Sites, James R. National center for photovoltaics (NCPV) 15th program review meeting, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.57895	conference	January 1999
CdTe contacts for CdTe/CdS solar cells: effect of Cu thickness, surface preparation and recontacting on device performance and stability Hegedus, Steven S.; McCandless, Brian E. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 88, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2004.10.010	journal	June 2005
Degradation of CdTe Solar Cells: Simulation and Experiment Nardone, Marco; Albin, David S. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2015.2405763	journal	May 2015
Stability aspects in CdTe/CdS solar cells Bätzner, D. L.; Romeo, A.; Terheggen, M. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 451-452 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2003.10.141	journal	March 2004
Imaging, microscopic analysis, and modeling of a CdTe module degraded by heat and light Johnston, Steve; Albin, David; Hacke, Peter Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 178 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2017.12.021	journal	May 2018
Metastability and reliability of CdTe solar cells Guo, Da; Brinkman, Daniel; Shaik, Abdul R. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 51, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aab1e1	journal	March 2018
Silicon pn junction imaging and characterizations using sensitivity enhanced Kelvin probe force microscopy Kikukawa, Atsushi; Hosaka, Sumio; Imura, Ryo Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 66, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.113780	journal	June 1995
Degradation of Mg-doped zinc oxide buffer layers in thin film CdTe solar cells Bittau, Francesco; Jagdale, Shridhar; Potamialis, Christos Thin Solid Films, Vol. 691 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2019.137556	journal	December 2019
Tailoring MgZnO/CdSeTe Interfaces for Photovoltaics Ablekim, Tursun; Perkins, Craig; Zheng, Xin IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 9, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2877982	journal	May 2019
Measurement of built-in electrical potential in III–V solar cells by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Moutinho, H. R.; Friedman, D. J. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 93, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1573736	journal	June 2003
Carrier separation and transport in perovskite solar cells studied by nanometre-scale profiling of electrical potential Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Yang, Mengjin; Zhou, Yuanyuan Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9397	journal	September 2015
Effect of Window-Layer Materials on p-n Junction Location in Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ Solar Cells Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Mansfield, Lorelle M.; Glynn, Stephen IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2874039	journal	January 2019
Direct evidence of a buried homojunction in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Hasoon, F. S.; Moutinho, H. R. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 82, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1534417	journal	January 2003
Development of CdSe thin films for application in electronic devices Olusola, O. I.; Echendu, O. K.; Dharmadasa, I. M. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, Vol. 26, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-014-2506-x	journal	November 2014
Thin‐film CdSe: Photoluminescence and electronic measurements Jäger‐Waldau, R.; Stücheli, N.; Braun, M. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 64, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.341649	journal	September 1988
Mitigation of J–V distortion in CdTe solar cells by Ga-doping of MgZnO emitter Pandey, Ramesh; Shah, Akash; Munshi, Amit Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 232 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111324	journal	October 2021
Formation of p-type MgZnO by nitrogen doping Wei, Z. P.; Yao, B.; Zhang, Z. Z. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 89, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2345846	journal	September 2006
Single vacuum chamber with multiple close space sublimation sources to fabricate CdTe solar cells Swanson, Drew E.; Kephart, Jason M.; Kobyakov, Pavel S. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 34, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4941071	journal	February 2016
Atomistic modeling of energy band alignment in CdSeTe surfaces Shah, Akash; Munshi, Amit H.; Nicholson, Anthony P. Applied Surface Science, Vol. 544 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.148762	journal	April 2021
Understanding the Copassivation Effect of Cl and Se for CdTe Grain Boundaries Shah, Akash; Nicholson, Anthony P.; Fiducia, Thomas A. M. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 13, Issue 29 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c06587	journal	July 2021

Similar Records

Metastability and Degradation of CdTe Solar Cells Investigated by nm-Scale Electrical Potential Imaging

Conference · 2022 · OSTI ID:1889434

Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Albin, David; Nardone, M.; +9 more

Device Architecture for Next Generation CdTe PV (Final Report)

Technical Report · 2020 · OSTI ID:1765132

Sites, James

Developing CdTe homojunctions applying high throughput deposition

Technical Report · 2022 · OSTI ID:1894358

McCloy, John S.; Duenow, Joel; Murgesan, Magesh; +2 more

Related Subjects

SOLAR ENERGY
CdTe solar cell
device modeling
electric field
Kelvin probe force microscopy
stability

Electrical Potential Investigation of Reversible Metastability and Irreversible Degradation of CdTe Solar Cells

Citation Formats

References (32)

Similar Records

Related Subjects